More than a decade after Cheryl Jansen’s body was found stuffed in a Rubbermaid container at a north Aurora home — and 13 years after she was killed — the man police say killed her is on trial in Arapahoe County.
Prosecutors started laying out their case against Jon David Harrington, 51, Aug. 18 at the Arapahoe County Justice Center. The trial is expected to last nine days, according to a spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s office.
Harrington was arrested and charged with second-degree murder last year.
The case is one of several cold cases that the DA’s office has brought to trial in recent years after launching a new unit to prosecute those older and more-difficult cases.
According to an arrest affidavit filed against him, police believe Harrington killed Jansen, then his roommate, in 2002 and stuffed her body in the container and sealed the container shut with duct tape.
The container sat in a friend’s backyard until 2005 when the friend opened it and found Jensen’s body inside.
Police have long suspected Harrington of being Jensen’s killer. He was charged last year after tests turned up Harrington’s DNA on the sticky-side of the tape used to seal up Jansen’s body.
Prosecutors said new interviews with witnesses also helped break the case and lead to Harrington being charged last year.
According to the affidavit, Jansen was last seen in 2002 when she lived with Harrington in an apartment near East Colfax Avenue and Nome Street.
Harrington told friends after the disappearance that Jansen stole their rent money and disappeared. After that, he moved several items from their apartment to a friend’s house near East 13th Avenue and Lansing Street, where he lived with a friend for a few years.
The case is one of several cold cases that the DA’s office has brought to trial in recent years after launching a new unit to prosecute those older and more-difficult cases.
That friend told investigators that the Rubbermaid tub was one of several items Harrington moved to his home. He said the tub was stacked on a back porch and Harrington was very protective of it, making sure nobody touched it.
In 2005, the friend said he was moving the container to a shed in the backyard when he realized the lid was cracked and there was a foul smell coming from inside. The man said the area had smelled bad for about a year, but before that he assumed the smell was from neighborhood cats.
When he looked in the box, he discovered Jansen’s body and called police.
Investigators interviewed Harrington, but he denied any involvement and said Jansen just disappeared.
Awesome branding by Rubbermaid.
Wow dead body in his house and still asks a buddy to help move him. Bold… wait lazy. This is terrible.